Garden Party

My sister took me to lunch today to celebrate my birthday. We started doing this a few years back and I think it's a good tradition. No gifts, just lunch and shopping for the day in downtown Naperville. I was a cheap date this year, as I picked Hugo's Frog Bar where you can get soup and salad for $2. We actually split an appetizer ($6.50) and we both got the wedge with blue cheese. It was delicious!
While we were going to the shops I decided to take pictures of Naperville's sculptures for this year. I think I mentioned once before, that Naperville gets a set of sculptures each year that are given to different businesses/artists to paint and decorate. They put them around the downtown area from Memorial Day through Labor Day. They are then auctioned off and the money goes to United Way. This year's theme is Garden Party. My favorites are the dragonfly benches and a few of the butterfly birdbaths.
Here are the some of the cute names that are associated with each sculpture.



* A Monarch Landing
* A Wing and A Chair
* Alice in Naperville
* Dinner at My Pad?
* Garden Beatles
* Metamorphism
* Rosie the “Ribbiter”
* Some Day My Prince Will Come
* The Night and Summer Skies
* The Wings of Change





I found out Naperville has been doing this summer event since 2001. This is what we've had so far:

2001 - Giraffe's
2002 - Carousel Horses
2003 - Bears
2004 - Farmyard Friends
2005 - Magical Giving Garden
2006 - Dragons
2007 - Under the Sea
2008 - Garden Party

This really has become a big summer event in Naperville. Kids flock to get there picture taken with these beautifully decorated sculptures. You can tell each artist has taken care to represent the business that has sponsored their sculpture. There is always a "buzz" before they are displayed around downtown and then it is always sad to see them leave for the auction. It's one more thing to remind us that summer is over.